The pay grade for the rank of lieutenant colonel is O-5. In the United States armed forces, the insignia for the rank consists of a silver oak leaf, with slight stylized differences between the Army/Air Force version and the Navy/Marine Corps version.

Promotion to lieutenant colonel is governed by Department of Defense policies derived from the Defense Officer Personnel Management Act (DOPMA) of 1980 for officers in the Active Component and its companion Reserve Officer Personnel Management Act (ROPMA) for officers in the Reserve Component (e.g., Reserve and National Guard). DOPMA guidelines suggest 70% of majors should be promoted to lieutenant colonel after serving a minimum of three years at their present rank and after attaining 15–17 years of cumulative commissioned service.

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Etymology[]

While sometimes written as "Lt. Colonel" in orders and signature blocks, as a courtesy, lieutenant colonels are addressed simply as "colonel" verbally and in the salutation of correspondence.[citation needed] The U.S. Army uses the three letter abbreviation "LTC," while the United States Marine Corps and U.S. Air Force use the abbreviations of "LtCol" and "Lt Col" (note the space), respectively. These abbreviation formats are also outlined in The Naval Institute Guide to Naval Writing[1] and in Air Force Handbook 33-337 (AFH 33-337), The Tongue and Quill.[2]

Slang terms for the rank historically used by the U.S. military include "light colonel", "short colonel", "light bird", "half colonel", "bottlecap colonel" (referring to the silver oak leaf insignia), and "telephone colonel" (from self-reference as "colonel" when using a telephone).[citation needed]

History[]

The rank of lieutenant colonel has existed in the British Army since at least the 16th century and was used in both American colonial militia and colonial regular regiments.[5] The Continental Army continued the British and colonial use of the rank of lieutenant colonel,[6] as the second-in-command to a colonel commanding a regiment.[7] The lieutenant colonel was sometimes known as "lieutenant to the colonel."[citation needed]

In British practice, regiments were actually commanded by their lieutenant colonels, as the colonel was a titular position [8] (with the incumbent absent from the regiment serving as a senior staff officer, a general officer, or as a member of the nobility). Since the British colonel was not a "combat" officer, beginning in May 1778 to simplify prisoner of war exchanges, American regiments began to eliminate colonels by attrition and replace them with a lieutenant colonel commandant. The conversion was never completely effected and some regiments remained commanded by colonels throughout the war.[9] From 1784 until 1791, there was only one lieutenant colonel in the US Army (Josiah Harmar), who acted as the army's commanding officer.

During the 19th century, lieutenant colonel was often a terminal rank for many officers, since the rank of "full colonel" was considered extremely prestigious reserved only for the most successful officers. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, the rank of lieutenant colonel became much more common and was used as a "stepping stone" for officers who commanded small regiments or battalions and were expected, by default, to be promoted to full colonel once the manpower of a regiment grew in strength. Such was the case of Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain, who commanded a Maine regiment as both a lieutenant colonel and later as a colonel.

The 20th century saw lieutenant colonel in its present-day status although, during the 1930s, many officers again found the rank to be terminal as the rank of colonel was reserved for only a select few officers.

In the United States Air Force, a lieutenant colonel is generally a squadron commander in the operations group, mission support group, or maintenance groups, or a squadron commander or division chief in a medical group. They may also serve as a Deputy Commander for Operations (DO) in a squadron in the operations group prior to assuming command of their own squadron (this is common for aeronautically rated officers in flying units), or as a deputy commander of a squadron in the maintenance, mission support or medical groups. Lieutenant colonels may also serve on general staffs and may be the heads of some wing staff departments. Senior lieutenant colonels occasionally serve as group commanders, most commonly in units of the Air Force Reserve Command or the Air National Guard.

In U.S. Army ROTC detachments, the commander is typically a lieutenant colonel, along with several majors, captains, and non-commissioned officers serving as assistants. In the U.S. Air Force, Air Force ROTC detachments may be commanded by full colonels or lieutenant colonels depending on the size of the detachment and the size of the associated college or university.

Non-military use[]

The rank of lieutenant colonel is also used by many large American municipal police departments, county sheriff's offices/departments, state highway patrols/state police and other law enforcement agencies for officers in senior administrative positions. The rank is not always called "lieutenant colonel," and in many cases – particularly with municipal police agencies – an alternate term such as "assistant chief" or "commander" is used, and only the insignia is retained. In some organizations, however, especially state police agencies, both the title and insignia are used. Occasionally, the rank is used in conjunction with, rather than instead of, an official title. For example, in the Texas Department of Public Safety, the head of the agency's patrol division is titled "Chief of the Highway Patrol", but holds the rank of a lieutenant colonel: this figure is thus referred to as "lieutenant colonel," not "chief".

Lt. Col. Robert Neville of the 2007 film I Am Legend, portrayed by American actor Will Smith. The movie is based on the book of the same name, I Am Legend, from 1954. The 2007 film version is a remake of the 1971 film The Omega Man, in which Robert Neville, portrayed by Charlton Heston, is one of few remaining survivors of a hellish germ-warfare doomsday.

[1] No universal insignia for officer candidate rank; Navy candidate insignia shown[2]Official 1945 proposal for General of the Armies insignia; John J. Pershing's GAS insignia: ; George Dewey's Admiral of the Navy insignia: [3] Rank used for specific officers in wartime only, not permanent addition to rank structure [4] Grade is authorized by the U.S. Code for use but has not been created[5] Grade has never been created or authorized[6] USAF and U.S. Army insignia shown